The Perfect Opportunity
by time-converges
Summary: The Doctor has been wanting to do something for a long time. He senses the perfect opportunity. Doctor/Donna


It had been such a normal day - a bit of shopping in the local market, a bit of sightseeing along the way. That is, until the bomb went off in the town square, and the Doctor kissed Donna. Not one directly after the other, of course, but close enough that Donna always associated the two. Donna stood in the hallway of the abandoned building, fingers absently touching her lips, as she waited for the Doctor to return from whatever he was doing upstairs. Just a minute before, he had said "Wait here," and he had kissed her. Then he had taken off running up the stairs, two at a time, leaving her here, stunned.

"How much for the silk one?" Donna asked the shop owner. She and the Doctor had stopped at the little shop because she had seen the scarves through the window. He stood next to her, waiting while she bargained over the one she really wanted, when an explosion went off in the town square outside. He grabbed her, pulling her out of the shop so they could go see what had happened. They could see emergency workers already at the scene, so they stopped out of their way. "I thought this was a peaceful planet," Donna said. She could feel her heart racing from the shock.

"It is. Or, I think, will be. It's possible we're here a few years early." The Doctor looked around, a puzzled expression on his face.

"A few years early? This would never have happened if you had let me drive," Donna said. "Shouldn't we be helping?"

The Doctor didn't respond, however, as he was watching the large group of people approaching them, all of them apparently armed. He took Donna's hand again. "Run!"

They ran, hand in hand, down the alley. Donna could hear footsteps in the distance behind them.

"Do revolutions break out on every planet you visit?" she gasped. She'd lost track of which direction they were running.

The Doctor pulled her into the doorway of a building, tucking them into an alcove. She could feel the roughness of the bricks through her blouse and felt her heartbeat impossibly loud in her ears as he pressed her into the wall. He ducked his head so he could whisper in her ear, "No, it only seems that way," in answer to her question. She felt his breath on her cheek as they waited to see if their pursuers had seen them. She closed her eyes as she heard footsteps approach, and the Doctor pressed her harder against the wall, shielding her from view.

"Which way'd they go?" she heard one voice ask.

"Maybe this way," came an answer, and the footsteps passed them by.

"They'll be back in a minute," the Doctor said softly. "This revolution only lasts a few weeks, with little bloodshed. We just need to get out of the way."

"What are we going to do?" she asked.

"We need to get to the TARDIS. I think a distraction is in order," he said. He met her gaze as he moved his hand from her shoulder to retrieve his sonic screwdriver from his coat pocket. He grinned at her as he pointed it at the lock on the door, then pulled her inside as he opened it. They surveyed the dimly lit hallway they found themselves in. Donna could smell the dust that had settled on the carpet.

"Looks like no one has been in here for ages," Donna said.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Right, so we need to see if there is another way out. This way, I think," he said, keeping hold of her hand as he headed toward the opposite side of the building. Donna looked in the other rooms as they passed by, but they all seemed empty. Finally they found what seemed to be the front door.

"So, what's the plan, then?" she asked.

"I'm going to go up and create a distraction on the roof," he said. "And before you ask, I don't know what, but I'll figure it out when I get up there. Then we should be able to get out of here and back to the TARDIS before they get back here." He peered out the window next to the door, then turned back to Donna. "It'll be all right," he said, taking her shoulders in his hands.

She nodded. "Of course. We do this every day, right?" she said. Her voice sounded shaky in her own ears.

"Seems that way," he said, quietly.

"Goes with the job, I guess," she said, with a small smile.

He smiled. "Wait here," he said. He reached up, brushing her hair behind her ear. His eyes looked dark, serious, and they were looking at her lips, not her eyes. Before she knew what he was doing, his hands were in her hair, cupping her neck, and his lips were on hers. Just as she recovered from the initial shock and relaxed into the kiss, he broke it off. "Wait here," he said again, and he ran up the stairs.

Donna touched her fingers to her lips. She wasn't sure what to think. Sure, they were always holding hands, and often hugging, but that was all innocent, right? Well, not that she hadn't thought about such things. Not at first, to be sure, but lately...he had been looking at her differently. And she had been thinking about him differently, too. Suddenly, there was a terrible noise from above, and Donna flinched. She really hoped he had meant to do that.

His footsteps on the stairs signalled his return. As he came into view, Donna blurted out, "What did you do that for?"

"The noise? It's a distraction, of course. By the time they get here, we'll be long gone--"

"No, why did you kiss me?"

"Oh, that," he tugged at his ear, grinning at her. "I've been wanting to do that for a long time. It seemed the perfect opportunity."

"Oh," she said, at a loss for words. A long time?

"But for now, we should probably get out of here, don't you think?" he asked.

She nodded, and took his hand as they ran out the front door and down the street toward the TARDIS. They burst through the doors, the Doctor heading straight for the console as Donna closed the doors behind them. She waited until he seemed to be finished setting their escape coordinates, then went over to stand next to him. He turned to her, a questioning look in his eyes.

"You know, Doctor," she said. "You only had to ask me."

He raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yes, really," she said, smiling. "And another thing."

"Yes?" he asked.

"Next time, I'm driving."

He put his arms around her, drawing her close. "Absolutely," he said, before kissing her soundly.


End file.
